Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party leader T Raja Singh on Sunday urged Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to follow Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s policy of “teaching a lesson” to those involved in alleged land jihad in the hill state, PTI reported.

“Land jihad” is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that Muslims plot to usurp public land by illegally building religious structures on them.

Singh, a Telangana MLA, was addressing a mahapanchayat, or conclave, organised by the Hindutva group Devbhoomi Vichar Manch in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi seeking the demolition of the town’s Jama Masjid.

Hindutva groups have been demanding that the mosque be demolished, claiming that it was built illegally. However, the district administration had said that the mosque was built legally in 1969 and had been registered with requisite documents, The Times of India reported.

Addressing the mahapanchayat on Sunday, Singh said that he had travelled from Hyderabad to urge Dhami to have a “chai pe charcha”, or a discussion over tea, with Adityanath.

The Uttarakhand government should use bulldozers to take action against “land jihadis”, Singh said. He said that the Dhami government has the support of one crore Hindus residing in the state and it should respect their sentiments.

“The way Yogi ji teaches a lesson to land jihadis in Uttar Pradesh, you [Dhami] also need to buy some bulldozers in Uttarakhand,” PTI quoted Singh as saying. “They [Hindus] want a land jihad-free Uttarakhand.”

There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for demolishing property as a punitive measure. Nevertheless, the practice has become commonplace, mainly in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

On November 13, the Supreme Court ruled that “bulldozer justice” is unconstitutional. State authorities cannot demolish the properties of citizens merely because they are accused or convicted of crimes, the court said while also issuing guidelines to curb instances of “bulldozer justice”.

Uttarakhand is “a heaven” but a conspiracy was being plotted by “land jihadis” to turn it into hell, Singh said. Dhami needs to be “careful and teach all of them a lesson,” the Telangana legislator said.

Singh also urged persons attending the event to convey to political parties that they must act against “land jihadis” in exchange for their votes.

“This is not only Uttarkashi’s problem but of the entire state,” he said. “Everyone needs to unite to avoid land jihad and love jihad.”

Singh claimed that mosques were being built illegally in Uttarakhand but asserted that the matter would be addressed legally.

Heavy security was deployed in Uttarkashi in view of the mahapanchayat.

On November 22, the Uttarakhand High Court had ordered the police and the administration to ensure maintenance of law and order in and around the mosque.